This is War
by sammydalammy
Summary: The Pokémon Leagues were meeting to discuss the possibility of there being a World Championship Pokémon League Competition. Unfortunately, a fight breaks out and the world put into chaos. Ash/Misty, May/Drew, Paul/Dawn, Max/OC. Rated M for a reason.
1. Chapter 1

**Summary: The Pokémon Leagues were meeting to discuss the possibility of there being a World Championship Pokémon League Competition. Unfortunately, a fight breaks out and the world put into chaos.**

**A/N: Hey, I know I should be updating my other stories, but this idea came to mind and I couldn't push it away. Plus, WhiskeyBandit begged me to post it. Anyway, I hope you enjoy it.**

**Disclaimer: I don't own anything except for Ella and Emma. Pokémon doesn't belong to me in any way, shape, or form.**

This is War  
Chapter 1

**[May's POV]**

"Have you heard the news?" Drew asked, coming up to me with a serious look on his face.

I cocked my head to the side, "What, no 'hello'?"

"This is serious. There is a war going on between the regions." Drew said.

"What?" I exclaimed, jumping up from where I was sitting in the grass behind my house.

"Apparently, there was a fight between the Pokémon Leagues of the Kanto, Johto, Hoenn, and Sinnoh regions. All travelling between regions has ceased, except to return natives to their homes." Drew said.

"So, Ash is probably being sent back home from the Sinnoh region?" I asked.

Drew shook his head, "Didn't you know? Ash returned home last week."

I frowned, "And how did you get this information before me?"

Drew shrugged, "Your brother has a big mouth. Anyway, does it matter? Don't you think that the war is more important?"

I shrugged, "The people in the Pokémon League are reasonable people. I'm sure they'll realize their mistake soon enough."

Drew sighed, "May, don't be so dense. I know that the people in the Pokémon League are reasonable. That's exactly why I'm questioning this. They wouldn't start a war over a fight. Something strange must be happening."

"May!" Max's yelling came from in front of the house as I heard him running toward me. "May, Ash is here!"

I looked up in surprise to see Max running around the house with Ash and Misty following closely behind. A Charizard also followed behind them, taking its time.

"Ash, what are you doing here?" I asked.

"I'm here because there is a war going on between the regions!" Ash exclaimed.

"Yeah, we already heard." Drew said, flicking his hair at Ash.

"We're here because we're going to figure out what's really going on and we were wondering if you wanted to come with us." Misty said, ignoring the boys.

"Well, if May's going, then I'm going." Drew said.

I looked at him in surprise, "I haven't even said that I was going yet."

"But you will." He replied.

"Fine, I will come. And apparently Drew is coming with us." I said, turning to Misty.

"Alright. Now we will go and get Dawn." Ash said.

"Can I come too?" Max asked.

I shook my head, "Max, you just got your first Pokémon. You should go on your own journey."

"You always get to have all the fun!" Max whined.

"Don't worry. We shouldn't be gone long." Misty told him.

"Yeah, we're just checking things out. We'll be back before you know it." Ash said, reassuring the ten year old boy.

"Fine." Max said, pouting as he did.

I hugged him, "Thanks. Will you tell Mom and Dad that I'm leaving?"

"Sure." Max replied.

"Flygon, come on out." Drew ordered as he threw a Pokéball. Flygon appeared, ready to fly.

Ash got on Charizard and held out his hand for Misty to get on as well. Drew also mounted his Flygon and looked at me expectantly. I smiled and mounted the dragon Pokémon, putting my arms around Drew in order to stay on.

"You guys ready?" Ash asked.

"Yeah." We replied, and we were off.

We arrived in the Sinnoh region's Twinleaf Town with the wind from Flygon and Charizard's wings making the leaves in the trees sway. Drew jumped off of Flygon's back and held his hand out to help me down. I took his hand and started to jump down, but my foot hit Flygon's thigh and I ended up falling instead, right onto Drew.

Drew groaned from beneath me, "May, don't you have a little bit more grace than that?"

"Sorry!" I said quickly and stood up, blushing as I did. I reached my hand out to help him up. "I guess I was a little numb from sitting on Flygon for so long."

He grabbed my hand and I pulled him to his feet. "Well, I wasn't exactly complaining, but next time you want to get me on the ground, give me some warning. That way, it doesn't mess up my hair." He flicked his hair to enunciate his words.

I felt my face get even hotter, "Drew! You knew that wasn't my intention at all!"

"What's up with all the yelling out here?" An extremely annoyed voice came from the opening door of the house closest to us. Two people came out of the house. I recognized both of them. One was Dawn, the blue haired girl that had traveled with Ash through the Sinnoh region. The other was Paul, Ash's rival from the Sinnoh region. The former looked extremely happy to see us, while the latter continued scowling, revealing that the annoyed voice had come from him.

"Ash? What are you doing here?" Dawn asked happily as she walked over to us.

Ash opened his mouth to speak, but Paul spoke before he had a chance, "Are you an idiot? Don't you know that you could get arrested for being here?"

"It's nice to see you too, Paul." Ash said, frowning at Paul's bad attitude. "Actually, we're here to see if _Dawn_ wants to help us stop the war."

Dawn frowned, "I would love to-"

"But she's already helping _me_ do that." Paul said, interrupting her. "And we certainly don't need _your_ help."

"Paul, why don't we just go with them? More people might be better." Dawn said.

"Troublesome, if _you_ want to go with them, then go." Paul turned back toward the house, "I'll just get my stuff from your house."

Dawn raced after him and caught him at the door, grabbing his hand before he could enter. "Paul, you know that I don't want to go without you. I just think that it would be beneficial to have people from each region."

"Fine. But, you do know that these guys will probably mess things up at one point, right?" Paul asked, raising his eyebrow at her.

Dawn shrugged, "Yeah, what's your point?"

Paul sighed, "Troublesome, you really don't care if we get into trouble, do you?"

"Not particularly." Dawn replied. "Come on, have a little fun."

"Alright Ketchum, what's the plan?" Paul asked, turning to Ash.

Ash frowned, "We were planning on going to the place that the leagues met up to see if anyone there knows anything."

"They met up on an island in the middle of nowhere. Do you know how to get there?" Paul asked.

"He doesn't, but I do." Mist said quickly. "Listen, since we're going to do this, I should probably ride on one of my water Pokémon. Does someone want to come with me?"

"Why don't we get a boat? That would be easiest." Dawn said.

"We're trying not to attract attention, Troublesome." Paul informed her.

Drew looked at me, "Is it always like this?"

I shrugged, sitting back on the grass while the others continued to talk about our travelling problems. "From what I hear, Paul used to be worse."

"So, Dawn made him shape up?" Drew asked, sitting beside me with a grace that I couldn't ever hope to achieve.

I shrugged again, "I'm not exactly sure, though it does seem like that just from watching them the past ten minutes."

"Yeah, I got that feeling as well. Anyway, do you think that we'll actually be able to stop this war?" Drew asked.

I shrugged, "All we can do is try."

"So, it's finally settled. We'll get a boat, just like I suggested." Dawn said, smirking at Paul.

Paul ruffled her hair, "Yeah, yeah. Just don't get too full of yourself, Troublesome."

"Well, it looks like we're going to do just that." Drew said, standing up. He reached his hand out for mine to help me up.

I took his hand, "What?"

"We're going to try." He said softly as he pulled me up, and into his arms.

I blushed, "Yeah."

"Are you guys ready?" Ash called back to us. Everyone else had already started down the road.

"Yeah, let's do it!" I grabbed Drew's hand as we ran to catch up to the others, not knowing the dangerous journey that we were about to make would change us forever.

**Three Years Later**

**[Ella's POV]**

I got off the boat at Slateport City and began walking up the beach. I felt the heat on my back and smiled. It had been a long time since I had been on a beach. I had been too busy travelling around lately.

"Excuse me, Miss, but can I see your ID?" I looked up to see the Officer Jenny of Slateport along with her Growlithe partner checking IDs as people passed her.

I nodded, "Of course." I handed her my Pokédex and listened to the voice speak my data.

"Ella Whiting from Littleroot Town…" The Pokédex continued on about my parents and the first Pokémon I had received. The data had been expanded since the war began. Every region was worried that spies would sneak in, though, for what reason, nobody seemed to have any idea.

"Thanks for your time." Officer Jenny tipped her hat to me before moving on to the next person.

I waited until I had gotten a little ways away before I breathed a sigh of relief. It always unnerved me when Officers checked out my data. I knew that there was nothing wrong with it, but there was always a chance that something might accidentally pop up. After all, technology wasn't perfect.

"Emma! Hey, I didn't know that you were in Slateport!" A voice was yelling very loudly, making me wince. "Emma, wait up!"

I continued walking, hoping that the person would find "Emma" soon.

I felt a hand on my shoulder only moments before I was turned around to face the yelling boy. He looked to be about my age, with shaggy teal hair and brown eyes, hidden behind black glasses. He was wearing a green colored short-sleeved shirt with a pocket on the front over a black long-sleeved shirt, tan shorts, brown shoes, and black socks. He had a yellow backpack thrown over his shoulder and a belt of Pokéballs on his waist.

"Emma, what's up with you? Were you spacing out?" The boy asked.

I blinked in surprise, "Are you talking to me?"

His eyebrows knit together in confusion, "Who else would I be talking to? Do you see anyone else named Emma around here?"

I frowned, "My name isn't Emma, it's Ella." I thought of my sister, but quickly shook it off. My sister should be in the Kanto region with my mother. There was no way that Emma could be here.

"Oh, I'm sorry. You look just like a friend of mine. Are you related to a girl named Emma Whiting?" The boy asked.

My guard was immediately up, "Why should I tell you?"

He seemed to be taken aback, "Oh, well, I don't know. I guess that you don't have to, if you don't want to."

"Max! Hey Max, what are you doing in Slateport?" I looked over before freezing, the shock certainly on my face. The girl who was running towards us stopped as soon as she saw me. I'm sure that our faces looked identically shocked, seeing as we had the same face. The girl had long, curly, dark brown hair that was left down, falling in waves halfway down her back, as opposed to my wavy dark brown hair, which was pulled up in a ponytail, and dark purple eyes that were perhaps a shade lighter than mine. She was wearing a pink tank top dress with purple arches along the bottom of the skirt, pink sandals with purple jewels in the center, a purple bracelet, a purple messenger bag, and a silver star necklace.

"Wow, you guys really do look alike." The boy said, looking back and forth between us.

The girl's body appeared to be shaking and tears formed in her eyes, "Ella?"

"What are you doing here?" We said at once. Though the words were the same, the feelings were different. My words sounded harsh and hers sounded wondering.

"Emma? What's going on?" The boy asked.

Emma blinked, as if she just remembered that the teal haired boy was here. "Oh, sorry Max. This is my twin sister, Ella." She looked as if she wanted to continue, but she didn't know how.

"We've both been away on journeys and haven't seen each other in a long time." I finished for her.

Max's eyes grew soft, "Oh, that must've been hard."

"Huh?" I asked.

"Well, I've been separated from my sister for a long time, and I really miss her. I can't imagine what it would be like for twins." Max explained.

I shrugged, "I had a vague idea of what she had been up to."

"What happened to your sister?" Emma asked, her eyes growing soft as she put her hand on Max's arm.

"She's been missing for three years." Max said, looking around as he did. "Listen, why don't we go to the Pokémon Center? This place isn't safe."

I looked at Emma in shock, an automatic reaction, only to find that she was shocked as well. She looked as if she had a secret that was just about to be found out, which was exactly what I was thinking about myself. It was then that I realized that Emma had the same secret as me.

"Sure, let's go to the Pokémon Center. Ella and I need to catch up with each other anyway." Emma said, giving me a significant look.

"Yeah, we do." I whispered, not sure whether to tell her the truth or not.

We made our way toward the Pokémon Center, ready for a long night of talking of things that weren't allowed to be spoken of ever since the war started.

**A/N: So, that's the end of chapter one. Tell me what you think.**


	2. Chapter 2

**A/N: So, here's chapter 2. Hope that you enjoy it.**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Pokémon, thanks for asking :)**

This is War

Chapter 2

**[Ella's POV]**

I sat in the Pokémon Center, stunned by the story that Max had just told us. "So, this group of four people went to stop the war all on their own?" I asked.

"Well, they also went to pick up Dawn…" Max said, trailing off as he looked down.

"Then, five people are missing?" Emma asked.

Max shrugged, "I don't know. They could be fine, for all I know. May might just be unable to come home because she's in a different region. I just wish I knew if she was okay, you know? I have nightmares all the time about what might be happening to her." He shuddered. Obviously the dreams weren't pleasant.

I reached out to touch his shoulder, but stopped myself, instead putting my hand into a fist and onto my lap. I had to remember not to get too close to the people around me. I didn't know when I might accidentally reveal myself to them.

Emma surprised me by hugging him, "Don't worry. I'm sure you'll figure it out soon."

Max hugged her back, "Thanks, Emma."

I felt my head automatically tilt to the side. I didn't know why her words would be reassuring. She didn't promise that May was safe, nor did she hint that he would ever see May again. Maybe I hadn't cared for so long that I no longer knew what might reassure people.

Max pulled away from Emma and gave her a gentle smile before looking to me, "So, what kind of trainer are you?"

"Huh?" I blinked, "What do you mean?"

"Well, since Emma is an Eevee trainer, and you are Emma's twin, I figured that you were some sort of special trainer as well." Max explained.

"Oh, is that what you decided to do?" I asked, looking to Emma.

She nodded, "Yeah. It is."

"Well, I'm nothing special. I just train all types of Pokémon." I said, looking back to Max.

"I see." Max said, "How come you didn't know what your sister was doing?"

I shrugged, "We didn't exactly keep in contact after we went our separate ways three years ago."

"So, you don't know which of you is stronger?" Max asked, suddenly interested.

We looked at each other before shrugging, "We never thought to check."

"I'm more into contests." Emma said.

"And I'm more into gym battles." I said.

"So, have you beaten the Pokémon League?" Max asked me. Ever since travel between the regions had been stopped, every region referred to their own Pokémon League as _the _Pokémon League.

I shook my head, "I'm still training."

"Would you like to have a battle?" Max asked, a fire in his eyes.

"Sure. How do you want to do it?" I asked, picking up my bag and preparing to go outside.

"Oh, no you don't." I restraining hand fell on my shoulder. I turned to see the Slateport City Nurse Joy. "It's dark outside. You kids should get some rest. You can battle in the morning."

I nodded, "Alright. Can we get a room?"

She nodded, "Do you want separate rooms for you girls and you, Max?"

I was shocked to know that she knew Max, but shrugged it off. He had probably slept here the night before and that was why she knew his name. Or maybe he had grown up in Slateport. Either way, I shouldn't care.

"Nah, we can all share a room, if you guys are okay with that?" Max said, turning to look at us.

I shrugged, "I'm fine with sharing a room."

Emma nodded, "We can share a room."

"Alright, just one room." Max said.

Nurse Joy looked doubtful, "Letting three thirteen year olds in a room together? When two of them are girls?"

Max blushed, "What kind of guy do you think I am?"

Joy shook her head, "You're right. I guess this war is getting to my head, making me think that everyone is suspicious, even you. Oh, Max, how are your parents?"

Max looked uncomfortable, "We haven't heard from Dad since last month. Mom's been holding up okay, but I'm worried about her."

Joy nodded, "It's okay. Tell her that she's always welcome to call. I'll always make time for Norman's wife."

He nodded, "Well, we're going to go up to our room. Room 257, right?"

"Of course." Nurse Joy replied, giving him a small smile before returning to the front desk. She reached over the counter and grabbed three of the room keys. She turned around and handed them to Max, Emma, and me.

"Thanks." Max said.

"Why room 257?" Emma asked.

I thought of the number, thinking of my Pokédex. Number 257 was Blaziken on the National Pokédex. "Blaziken?" I asked.

Max nodded, "Blaziken is the Pokémon that my sister used most of the time." He began walking towards the elevator, obviously not wanting to talk about it.

Emma and I exchanged a look before trailing after him. I needed to talk to Emma, but I wasn't sure how to start the conversation. I sighed, maybe it would be best not to bring up our secrets. After all, I didn't want anybody listening in. It wouldn't do me any good if anyone found out who I was.

We entered the elevator and the silence seemed to stretch on forever. The elevator dinged, letting us know that we had reached the second floor. We started walking down the hallway towards our room. We finally reached room 257 and Max put the key in the hole. He unlocked the door and let it swing open, revealing our room for the night. The room had two sets of bunk beds on the right side of the room, a T.V. on the left side of the room, a door leading to the bathroom on the left, and a door leading to a balcony on the far side of the room.

"Um, I'm going to go and get some food, if you guys want to use the room to change." Max said awkwardly, letting us in the room before shutting the door behind him.

I sighed, now I was alone with Emma, a situation that I had hoped to avoid.

"So, how have you been?" Emma asked, putting her bag on the bottom bunk of the right bed. She began to search through it, avoiding the awkward atmosphere in the room.

"Fine, and you?" I asked, opening my own backpack. I couldn't help comparing my own outfit to hers. She looked like a very proper and sweet girl, but I looked almost like a problem child. I had my dark brown wavy hair pulled back in a ponytail, and my dark purple eyes always looked angry. I was wearing a purple sleeveless belly shirt, a pink skirt with a purple Pokéball on it, a pink short sleeved jacket that didn't go past my upper torso and had a purple collar, purple fingerless gloves with black wristbands, purple high-heeled boots that went up to my knees and had purple soles, a purple backpack, and a silver moon necklace.

"Let's just get to the point, shall we?" Emma asked, turning to face me, now in her pajamas. She was wearing a simple pink nightgown.

I turned to face her, "Alright, why are you here?"

"I would guess that I'm here for the same reason that you are." Emma replied. Her reply surprised me, but I didn't let it show. Well, rather than surprised, it saddened me. It let me know her situation exactly and I knew immediately what I must do.

I frowned, "When did you become the type of person to avoid questions?"

"Well, if you aren't here for the same reason, then I can't exactly reveal my reasons, can I?" Emma asked as she took a brush out of her bag, running it through her hair.

I sighed as I began pulling off my clothes, wanting to get into my pajamas as soon as possible. I put on my purple pajama pants and my black tank top, ready to face my sister, at last. "Alright, since you are my sister, I will tell you. I've been sent here by the UPL."

She sighed in relief, "Me too! Thank goodness! I was worried that you might be working for the Johto Pokémon League."

"Well, I figured that you would be against the war and, even if you were with the Kanto Pokémon League, that, since we're sisters, you might not arrest me. Not that you could, since we're in the Hoenn region." I said.

She nodded, "You're much tougher than me, so I wasn't sure."

"So, why were you sent here?" I asked.

She shrugged, "Professor Oak said I'm supposed to meet up with an informant tomorrow."

"Me too. I wonder who it will be." I said.

"I don't know. I'm kind of new at this. At times, I even forget what UPL stands for." She said with a giggle.

"How can you forget United Professor's League?" I asked, raising my eyebrows at her.

She blushed, "I can be sort of an airhead at times."

I rolled my eyes, "Don't I know it!"

She giggled and hugged me, "I've missed you, you know."

I hugged her, "Yeah, I know." I pulled away and smiled shyly, "So, how's mom been?"

"She's good. She misses Dad, and she really didn't want me to start this profession." Emma said, sitting down on the bed.

"Yeah, I can understand that. Dad wasn't too happy about me becoming a spy either, but he understood why I had to. After all, he wants this war to end just as much as the rest of us." I replied.

There was a small knock on the door and Max's voice drifted through the wood, "Hey, are you guys done?"

"Yeah." We called out in sync.

He opened the door and smiled, "So, did you guys catch up on whatever girls talk about?" He looked away awkwardly; obviously embarrassed that he didn't know what to call "girl talk".

I smirked, "Did you only ever hang out with your sister? Is that why you're so awkward around girls?"

He blushed and Emma put her hands on her hips, "Ella! You can't just ask someone why they're awkward!"

"Well, I just did." I replied.

"Sorry about her." Emma said to Max.

"Um, no problem." Max said, his blush still obvious on his face. "Let's just get to sleep."

I yawned as I climbed to the top bunk of the bed on the right, "Alright, I'll have plenty of chances to humiliate you in our battle tomorrow."

Emma turned out the lights and crawled into the bed beneath me, leaving Max to climb into the top bunk of the bed on the left.

"Goodnight everybody." Emma called.

"Goodnight." Max replied.

"Night." I whispered before dozing off.

**A/N: Yeah, that was a pretty boring chapter. Don't worry, the next one is better. Let me know what you thought :)**


	3. Chapter 3

**A/N: Alright, just a warning, but here is where things start getting into the M rating. So, I hope you enjoy it, or are disturbed by it, or whatever you are supposed to do when reading about this sort of thing.**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Pokémon at all. I wish I did, but I don't.**

This is War

Chapter 3

**[May's POV]**

A bright light was suddenly shining in my eyes, so different than the darkness that had surrounded me for the last few hours. At least, I thought it was hours, for all I knew it could have been weeks, or even months since I had seen any light. I used to tell time by my mealtimes, but then I realized that they could be feeding me three times a day, twice a day, once a day, or possibly even once every other day.

I looked past the light to the hulking mass of muscle that was my captor. He was grinning his wolf-like grin at me, making me want to back into the corner of the room. Unfortunately, the chains on my wrists and ankles were keeping me connected to the wall behind me.

"Hello cutie, how's it going?" He asked.

I stayed silent, knowing that he would most likely hit me if I spoke. It was bizarre to think that I was used to being his captive, but the last three years had taught me well.

"If you're good today, then I might let you see loverboy. He's not in good shape lately. Dr. Zetes has been having too much fun with him. Speaking of, you might be due for another appointment with Dr. Zetes." His eyes flashed in excitement.

I wanted to cringe away from him, but I just continued to stare blankly at him. I knew that he enjoyed any sign of discomfort from me. The only thing in that sentence that worried me was the part about Drew. My captor called Drew "loverboy" because Drew had tried to protect me when we were first captured.

My captor was obviously disappointed by the lack of emotion in my face. "Obviously we need another session, just you and me." He licked his lips, "I can't wait to see what kind of emotions you show me."

My body began to shake, showing my true fear since my face wouldn't give anything away.

The man grinned and leaned in to press his lips to my ear, whispering to me in his cold, cruel voice, "Then again, maybe loverboy can watch that session."

My eyes widened and I automatically spit in his face, "Bastard! Leave Drew out of this!"

He wiped the spit of his face, "Looks like you need another lesson." He took his pocketknife out of his pocket and smiled at me as he brought the blade out. It was a blade that I had seen many times before. It wasn't very big, maybe one and a half inches long, and it was extremely dull. It made the "lessons" that much more painful.

He started by pushing my already short dress up to reveal the highest parts of my thighs. I was unfazed by this. At the beginning, I would kick my legs and try to get him away, causing them to pin me against the wall painfully. By now, I had learned to let him do what he wanted with my clothes. They were already filled with holes and bloodstained anyway. I could remember a time when my legs were tanned and beautiful. Now, they were pale and scarred, results of the last three years. In fact, my entire body was like that. There was not a part of me that he hadn't touched with some sort of knife or weapon in the past three years. I was surprised that I was still alive. Not because of the bleeding, but because I thought I had a weaker will than this. The only thing keeping me going was Drew. If he could go through this torture, then I would do the same.

I felt the cool metal on my skin and I closed my eyes, still afraid of watching the blood drain out of me. The first time that the knife made contact with my skin; I couldn't stop myself from watching. Then, I began to panic. I thought that I was going to die. Every moment, I begged him to stop the bleeding. Unfortunately, this only made him start stabbing me wherever he could, just to hear me scream. After that first time, while I was watching the blood drain out onto the pure white floor, I felt a part of me die. I used to be able to claim some sort of innocence, but, in that moment, I felt that my innocence was lost forever. I could no longer say that every person in this world was good. I knew that some people were pure evil, and lived to see the hurt in others.

Finally, the knife slid into my skin. It was a rough process, nothing like the movies. Since the blade was dull, it took a lot of sliding back and forth for my torturer to get it into my skin. I felt my body begin to shudder and I bit my tongue, holding back a scream. This is what I would do. I would take any form of torture, but I would not satisfy him. I would not beg for mercy. I would be strong. Out of everyone, I'm sure that I am the weakest. Because of this, I would make it my goal to try the hardest. I knew that nobody else would give up, so I couldn't either.

He finally slipped the knife from my skin after making a cut that went halfway down my thigh. I gasped as the rough edges of the knife touched the edge of the cut. I bit my tongue once again, wanting to kick myself for letting him hear me gasp. I tried to calm down again, knowing that the session would last less time if he got bored with my reactions. I took a deep breath and tried to imagine what life would be like once we got out of here. I imagined myself on a beach, my body once again clear, and tanned. Drew walked over to me, a gentle smile on his face. He was carrying two ice cream cones. We ate our ice cream and laughed as some spilled on my chest. Drew was just about to lick it off when a sharp pain in my stomach brought me back to reality.

My eyes were open wide as I stared at the large hand, twisting the dull blade into my stomach. I felt tears begin to form in my eyes as I gasped for breath. My torturer grinned as he pulled the knife out, "We'll leave it at that for today. Next time, don't start daydreaming in the middle of our session. I wouldn't want you to call out loverboy's name while I'm having fun with you."

I watched as he left the room, leaving me in complete darkness once again. I let the tears drop onto my cheeks as I began to sob, "Drew, I miss you so much! Please, don't let me die before I can see him again."

I began to drift off to sleep, something that was normal after sessions. Before I fell asleep, I thought of Max. "Don't worry about finding us, Max. There's not much of us left to find." I let myself fade into a dreamless sleep, trying to forget all the torture that I would face once I woke up once again.

**[Ella's POV]**

I awoke to screaming from the bed beside me. I jumped up quickly, ready to assess the threat, only to realize that Max was screaming in his sleep.

"May! No, don't! May!" Max screamed, obviously plagued by dreams about his sister.

Emma was also awake, and she was already climbing up to his bunk. She started to shake his shoulders, "Max, wake up. It's just a dream."

I climbed over into the bed as well and watched as Max gasped, opening his eyes in shock. His eyes flew around the room before landing on Emma. He blinked a few times, "Emma?" He gasped.

She nodded, "It's alright. It was just a dream."

He shuddered, "I don't think that I could ever dream of something so horrible."

"Then, maybe it's really happening." I said.

Emma glared at me, "How is that even possible? It was a dream."

My eyes flashed as I glared at her, "Don't treat me like an idiot. We've both been to the Kanto region before. Do you not remember Sabrina? She's psychic, why can't other people be psychic too?"

Max's eyes widened as he looked at me, "Why would you immediately jump to that conclusion?"

I shrugged, "Like you said, you couldn't ever dream of something so horrible. Dreams come from our subconscious minds. However, these dreams that you've been having have all been different, right? Usually, recurring nightmares are the same, sometimes with more stuff added on. The chance of your mind coming up with so many horrible situations is very slim."

He blinked in absolute surprise, "You're right, they are all different. And, I am slightly psychic, though I don't usually tell people. So, it would make sense that all of these dreams have actually been happening." He sat back for a second to ponder this. Suddenly, his body began to shake and he looked at me in horror, "Oh, God! Those things have actually been happening to May!"

I reached out my hand to comfort him, but drew back just as quickly. I was slowly treading in unknown waters, something that was against my own rules. My job was to focus on my mission, nothing more, nothing less. I crawled back to my bed and dug through my bag, finally finding my father's watch. The time read 6:00 a.m..

"Alright, I'm going to get dressed and then go for a jog. When I get back, we can have our battle." I gathered my clothes and dashed into the bathroom, hoping to avoid any other emotional situations. I quickly changed into my normal clothes with my swimming suit on underneath, just in case I decided to go swimming. I added a black belt that I attached my Pokéballs to, since I never went anywhere without my Pokémon. On the right of the belt, I also attached my communicator, just in case I received orders.

I exited the bathroom to find Max and Emma in a deep conversation, still on Max's bed. I almost glared at Max, wanting to warn him that if he tried anything on my sister, I would kill him, but, then I remembered that I had no right to make decisions for Emma. After all, we hadn't really been a family for three years.

I left the room, remembering to grab my key before I left. The journey to the outside of the Pokémon Center was a blur, my body only knowing that I needed to run. My emotions were getting too high. I had to do what my mentor, Guilford, taught me to. Whenever my emotions got too close to a situation that had nothing to do with my mission, I should get out of there and let myself cool down. The best way to do this was to exercise.

I jogged down the streets of Slateport, avoiding the market, since I knew a lot of people would be there. I headed toward the beach, hoping that the early time would mean that not a lot of people would be there. When I finally got to the beach, I was happy to see that there were few people there. I began jogging down the beach, avoiding the other people as much as I could. After about a half an hour, I was feeling really hot and wanted to go for a swim.

I started to take off my clothes, starting with my skirt, when I heard a panicked male voice say, "What are you doing? This is a public beach!" I turned to see a boy with messy blond hair and blue eyes. He was wearing a blue vest over a yellow tee shirt, khaki shorts, yellow gloves, white socks, blue shoes with yellow accents, and a blue backpack.

I raised my eyebrows at him, "I have a swimming suit on underneath."

"Oh." He began to look down in embarrassment, only to start staring at my exposed waist.

I pulled my skirt up, "Listen, I was hoping to go for a swim, so could you stop staring at me in inappropriate ways?"

He blinked in surprise, "Sorry, don't take this the wrong way, but I was surprised that you were a Pokémon trainer."

I felt my hand clench into a fist, "Oh yeah? And why is that?"

He shrugged, "You seem like the sort of careless person who wouldn't be able to take care of her Pokémon."

I grabbed one of the Pokéballs from my belt, "Alright, if that's the way you feel, then I'll show you just how powerful I am."

He smiled, "Sure. Let's have a battle. If you win, then I'll admit that you are perfectly capable of being a Pokémon trainer."

"Let's show him what we're made of. Come on out, Metagross." I said, throwing the Pokéball in order to release the only Hoenn Pokémon that I had.

"Alright, to counter your psychic and steel type, I'll use Magmortar!" The boy sent out his Pokémon.

Our Pokémon squared off, waiting for our commands. I waited, wanting to see what attack he would try first.

Apparently, the boy was impatient. "Magmortar, use ThunderPunch!"

Magmortar started charging at Metagross, its fist covered in lightning. "Metagross, use Agility to dodge it."

Metagross moved out of the way, but Magmortar continued to try and hit Metagross. I sighed, "Metagross, go into the air." Metagross started hovering, going upward quickly.

"Not so fast!" Magmortar jumped into the air, aiming its attack at Metagross.

I grinned, "Dodge and use Hammer Arm!" Metagross, with its speed increased from the earlier agility, was able to get behind Magmortar and hit Magmortar with its leg, sending Magmortar crashing to the earth.

"Magmortar, can you get up?" The boy asked, watching as Magmortar stood on shaky legs.

Metagross drifted down to the ground, letting its feet hit the earth. "Metagross, let's finish this up with Psychic."

Metagross stared at Magmortar before making it fly into the air. "Now, use Meteor Mash!" I ordered my Pokémon.

Metagross flew up above Magmortar, releasing the fire Pokémon from Psychic and punched down on Magmortar, once again sending it down into the sand. This time, Magmortar didn't get back up.

I smiled, "Great job, Metagross."

The boy was looking at me with shock, "How did you do that? Magmortar didn't make contact with your Metagross even once. Magmortar, return."

I shrugged, "I've been training with Metagross since it was a Beldum. Most people think that Metagross is a slow Pokémon, due to its size, but, with the right training, Metagross can become just as quick as any other Pokémon."

He nodded thoughtfully, "That's interesting. It's like you're defying the limits that your Pokémon is supposed to have."

I nodded, "So, are you convinced, or do we need to continue?"

He shook his head, "Nah, I'll admit defeat. I haven't had breakfast yet, so it would be best to stop now, before I faint of hunger." He laughed.

I laughed, "Yeah, it would be best to avoid that." As I was about to smile at him, my eyes widened in shock and I realized what I was doing. I immediately put my guard back up, "Metagross, return." I got Metagross back in its Pokéball and turned away from the trainer, "Well, I guess I'll see you around."

"Wait! I haven't even properly introduced myself!" I turned to see he was holding out his hand, "My name is Landon."

I took his hand, "I'm Ella." I noticed the warmth of his hand and blushed. I quickly pulled away. "Anyway, I should get back to the Pokémon Center…" I trailed off as I saw Max and Emma running toward me on the beach.

Emma hugged me when she reached me, "Ella, that was so cool! We were watching from afar and I thought you were totally amazing!"

Max nodded, "It was quite the strategy."

I turned away, "It was nothing."

"Emma? Is that you?" Landon asked, the surprise clear in his voice.

"Landon? What are _you_ doing here?" her voice was guarded.

"I would say that I'm here to admire your extravagant beauty, but that would be a lie. Truthfully, I am here to train on this beach." Landon said.

I frowned, why was Emma considered an extravagant beauty? Then it hit me, Landon hadn't thought that I was Emma. Somehow, without even knowing us, Landon had realized from the beginning that I wasn't Emma. Actually, now that I thought of it, he probably had thought that I was Emma. After all, he had called me careless, and that was a description generally given to Emma, not to me. Of course, once he saw that I didn't know him, he had probably just shrugged it off. Of course, if he knew Emma well, then he would know that she had a twin. No, that wouldn't work. Since Emma was a spy, she shouldn't let anyone get to know her that well.

"So, who are you?" Landon asked Max, the jealousy obvious in his voice.

Max blinked in surprise, "My name is Max. I'm nobody special."

"Wait, do you happen to be the son of Norman?" Landon asked excitedly.

Max nodded, "Yes. Why?"

"Wow, it's a pleasure to meet you! I'm a huge fan of Norman. I've always wanted to be a gym leader, just like him." Landon said.

"Yeah, well, with this war going on, being a gym leader means something different than it used to." Max replied.

"Exactly! Isn't it so cool how he's now in charge of a bunch of Pokémon trainers? I mean, he's one of the people who come up with battle strategies." Landon exclaimed. "Since you're his son, won't you be taking over as gym leader one day? Oh, wait, I almost forgot about your sister. Obviously, since she's the oldest, she'll be taking over the gym."

Emma glared at Landon, "Hey, knock it off!"

"Knock what off? Did Max want to be gym leader? If he's good enough, then he should just beat his sister in a battle." Landon said.

Max shook his head, "I never got the chance to battle with her."

"Huh?" Landon asked.

"She's been missing since the very beginning of the war." Max replied.

Landon's expression changed from one of excitement to one of boredom, "Well, that's nothing new, is it? Plenty of people have disappeared since the war began. In fact, a group of trainers from Kanto, Hoenn, and Sinnoh all are said to have gone off together. It's dumb. Why do they get to run off while the rest of us face this war? They're such cowards!"

Max turned to him, "Don't you dare say anything bad about them! They went to stop this war from happening. It's not their fault that they're not back yet! If they could get back, they would, but they can't!" Max turned away and started walking down the beach angrily.

Emma turned to Landon, "That was really insensitive, you know? Couldn't you be a little nicer?" She turned to me, "Will you go after him? I'll teach the idiot right here a lesson on being nice."

I nodded and started jogging down the beach. As soon as I was a safe distance away, I turned to look at them. Emma and Landon were talking, but neither of them looked unhappy. It seemed like a normal conversation between friends. I nodded at this new information. It was something I would have to keep in mind.

I continued down the beach, but I couldn't see Max anywhere. When I reached some jagged cliffs, I sighed. He probably went back to the Pokémon Center. I was about to turn around when I remembered the layout of the beach. There should be another mile of beach left. Obviously, it would be on the other side of this wall. Anyone who lived in Slateport would know this, so why not Max? I grabbed one of my Pokéballs, "Feraligatr, help me out!" I released my blue alligator Pokémon. "Feraligatr, give me a ride to the other side of that stone wall."

Feraligatr let me get on its back and proceeded to the water, where I knew there would be a drop off in the sand. Feraligatr swam me to the other side, where I found Max, sitting in the sand with a Huntail in the water next to him.

Max looked up in surprise, "How did you find me?"

I shrugged, "I thought you might want to be alone. This seemed like the perfect place for someone to be alone." Feraligatr swam to the shore and let me off on the beach. I sat down next to Max and Feraligatr sat next to me.

"If you knew I wanted to be alone, then why did you come?" Max asked.

"I didn't know that your dad was a gym leader." I said.

"Huh?" Max asked.

"It's hard enough for you to have your sister missing. To also have your dad fighting in a war that your sister was trying to prevent is just plain wrong." I sighed, "I guess what I'm trying to say is that, even when you want to be alone, I don't want you to feel alone."

He looked at me in surprise, "I thought you didn't like me."

I shrugged, "Well, I try not to get close to people. It's just easier for me to observe others. After all, if I don't get close, then nobody will get hurt." I looked away.

"I would never hurt you." He whispered, just loud enough for me to hear.

"What?" I asked in surprise, turning to face him.

"I said, I would never hurt you. I can't hurt the girl I like." He said, showing sincerity in his eyes.

I looked out to the sea, avoiding Max's gaze, "You don't know anything about me. You should stay away from me. The people near me always get hurt."

"That's because you push everyone away." Max said, grabbing my hand, "But I won't let you push me away. I want to get to know you. Since the moment I saw you next to Emma, I saw that you were completely different from her."

"We're twins. We look exactly alike." I said, pulling my hand away from him. "We have more in common than you think. Meaning that you shouldn't trust either of us."

"If I can't trust you, why did you tell me that?" Max asked.

"I don't know! Lately, I just say whatever I feel like. It's going to get me in trouble…" I trailed off as I saw a familiar sight riding the waves toward the shore.

I recognized the figure as someone riding their water Pokémon. In this case, it was a boy riding his Milotic. The boy was wearing a black swimming suit. As they got nearer to the shore, I wasn't surprised that I recognized the boy. It only took a few moments for the boy to ride to the shore. Once he was close, he jumped to the beach, landing only a foot away from me. He flashed me one of his charming smiles, "Hey, how's it going?"

I shrugged, "Fine, and you?"

He shrugged, "Well, I'm a lot better since I found you."

I nodded, "Where's Isabelle?"

"She's searching for you back in town." He replied. "It was my job to search the beach."

I rolled my eyes, "You're only here for the bikinis."

He shrugged, "Is that a problem?"

I lightly punched him on the shoulder, "Pig."

"Um, who's this?" Max asked, looking back and forth between my mentor and me.

"This is Guilford. He's an old friend of mine." I said. "Guilford, this is Max. He's a friend of my sister."

"Your sister is in Slateport?" Guilford asked, raising his eyebrows at me.

I nodded, "Yeah. She's back on the beach with her friend."

"I see." He said, "Well, I guess we'll have to tell Isabelle. She's always wanted to meet your sister." He turned to his Milotic, "Ready for a ride back to the other side of this cliff? Or should we climb it?" This last question was directed at me.

"Well, considering how you would look up my skirt if I climbed in front of you, I'm going with swimming." I said.

He shook his head, "Sorry, I don't go for kids like you." He ruffled my hair affectionately.

"Good, because you're like a brother to me, and Isabelle would kill me if I stole you away from her." I said as I prepared to get on Feraligatr's back.

"Wait." Max grabbed my wrist.

"What?" I asked, turning to look at him.

He blushed and looked away, obviously trying to think of something. "Oh, you said that you'd battle me."

I scratched my head in embarrassment, "Oh, right. I forgot."

Guilford raised his eyebrows at me, "_You_ forgot about a battle? It must be the end of the world or something!"

I pushed him, "Shut up. I've changed since you first met me. I'm not so obsessed with battles."

"Good. It's bad to only think about fighting." He said with a smile.

"Are you ready for this?" Max asked.

I nodded, "Since Feraligatr is already out, I'll just use him."

"Then, I'll use my Huntail." Max replied.

I turned to Feraligatr, "Are you ready?"

Feraligatr nodded and flexed his muscles, looking to Huntail. Huntail looked back steadily. "Feraligatr, use Agility." I commanded.

Max nodded, "That strategy again? It won't work if my Huntail is in the water."

I shook my head, "Feraligatr, into the water. Agility still works in the water. Actually, he's faster swimming than he is on land."

"Huntail, use Whirlpool." Max said. The water around the two Pokémon began to swirl around, but I knew I had to make a move before it got too intense.

"Feraligatr, use Water Pledge!" I said. A column of water rose up underneath Huntail, flinging it into the air.

"Huntail, quickly dive back into the water!" Max ordered. Huntail faced the water, going trying to get back in as fast as possible.

"Too late! Feraligatr, use Icy Wind!" I commanded. The wind hit Huntail, making ice crystals form on its body.

Huntail fell into the water, but it was moving very slow due to the ice on its body. "Huntail, use Bite!"

Huntail bit onto Feraligatr's arm. "Feraligatr, use Slash to send Huntail into the air!"

Feraligatr slashed at Huntail until Huntail let go of Feraligatr's arm before throwing Huntail into the air. "Huntail, try and use Dive!"

"Feraligatr, use Iron Tail!" Feraligatr launched out of the water, getting above the struggling Huntail. Feraligatr brought his glowing tail down on Huntail, sending the Pokémon flying into the water.

"Huntail!" Max yelled. Huntail was floating on the top of the water, obviously unable to battle anymore. Max sighed, "Thanks for your hard work. Go ahead and rest, Huntail." Max got Huntail back into its Pokéball. Max pulled out another Pokéball, "Alright Kirlia, get in there!" A Kirlia appeared in the beam of light from the Pokéball.

"Feraligatr, fight this one on land." I said. Feraligatr returned to the shore, facing the small psychic Pokémon with all his concentration.

Max chose to start this one off, "Kirlia, use Double Team!" Kirlia appeared to split into many Kirlia, surrounding Feraligatr.

"Feraligatr, jump up and then use Dragon Pulse at the ground!" I ordered. Feraligatr jumped up and opened his mouth, releasing the pulsing purple light. The light hit the ground and became ripples, going in a perfect circle toward the circle of Kirlia. The Kirlia closest to the water fell backwards, showing that it was the real one. The other Kirlia disappeared.

"Kirlia, use Magical Leaf!" Max ordered. Kirlia spread her hands and began twirling around, releasing colorful leaves. Kirlia sent the leaves at Feraligatr, hitting him straight on. Feraligatr fell backwards, but staggered to his feet after a moment.

I could tell that Feraligatr was getting tired. "Feraligatr, use Crunch!" Feraligatr rushed in and bit Kirlia, taking advantage of Kirlia's weakness against dark attacks.

"Kirlia, use Magical Leaf once again!" Max ordered. Kirlia let the colorful leaves swirl around both her and Feraligatr, becoming like a tornado of leaves. Feraligatr fell once again. This time, I knew that he shouldn't get back up.

I got Feraligatr's Pokéball and pressed the button, "You did great. Return, Feraligatr. Metagross, I'm counting on you again!" I threw out the Pokéball and Metagross prepared to battle.

"Using Metagross again? Shouldn't you let it rest some more?" Max asked.

I shook my head, "Metagross is fine. I'd worry about your own Pokémon, if I was you."

Kirlia was looking quite tired. I knew it wouldn't take much more to defeat the psychic Pokémon. "Metagross, let's finish this off quickly. Use Pursuit!" Metagross rushed at Kirlia, hitting it head-on. Kirlia was knocked back and struggled to get back up. "Quick, now use Bullet Punch!" Metagross quickly punched Kirlia, sending it into the water.

"Kirlia!" Max called, but Kirlia was floating on the water, obviously unable to continue. "Alright Kirlia, return. Camerupt, get in there!"

Metagross stared at its new opponent, obviously taking in the fact that Camerupt was both fire and ground types, its two weaknesses. "Metagross, you're going to have to rely on speed again. So, start off with Agility. Make sure that you stay in the air so that there are fewer chances of ground attacks hitting you." Metagross used the move, preparing for whatever Camerupt might have in mind.

"Nice strategy. Unfortunately, that won't help against my fire attacks. Camerupt, use Lava Plume." Max ordered. Camerupt let lava fly from its two humps. Metagross tried to dodge, but it was still hit.

"Metagross, use Hammer Arm." I said. Metagross hit Camerupt with its arm, making the camel Pokémon skid backwards.

"Camerupt, use Eruption!" Max said. Camerupt let fire come out of its humps, hitting Metagross directly. Metagross fell to the ground then struggled to get up.

"Metagross, use Hyper Beam!" I said quickly. Metagross charged up for its attack.

"Camerupt, stop Metagross, quickly. Use Earth Power!" Max ordered. Unfortunately, Camerupt was still catching its breath after using Eruption. I knew that this was going to be a battle of time. Would Metagross or Camerupt win? Metagross finished charging and launched the beam of energy at Camerupt. At the same time, Camerupt made the ground under Metagross erupt with power. From the power of the two attacks, sand flew into the air, clouding my vision.

Just as suddenly, a huge gust of wind blew the sand away. I looked up to see a Flygon descending. On the back of the Flygon was a girl. They landed right next to Guilford and the girl jumped off, landing beside him. She threw him a backpack, "Put some clothes on."

I looked back to where Metagross should be. Metagross had fainted and was lying on the ground. "Metagross, return." I said as I took back my Pokémon.

I saw that Camerupt had also fainted and Max was returning the fire Pokémon to its Pokéball. I felt a hand on my shoulder, "So, I see that you're still making just as much noise as you did when we first met.

I looked up into Isabelle's green eyes, "It's a battle, of course it's noisy."

Now that Guilford was dressed, I couldn't help but compare the couple to each other. Isabelle had short blonde hair and green eyes. Guilford, on the other hand, had dark brown hair and brown and green eyes with a grey rim. Isabelle was wearing a sleeveless green dress with a pleated skirt and a strip of purple at the waist, a purple jacket with a black collar that only covers her upper torso, purple leggings with a black strip on the bottom, black strappy heels, and a white messenger bag with a black Pokéball on the side. Guilford was now wearing a white un-tucked button-up shirt, a black unbuttoned vest with a white Pokéball symbol on the right side, black jeans, and black shoes with white accents. Guilford pulled his black glasses out of his backpack and put them on. Looking at the two, they were as different as night and day. Isabelle was very colorful, while Guilford only wore black and white. But, they were equally good Pokémon trainers.

Isabelle was looking at Max, "I'm sorry that I disrupted your battle. Please, go ahead."

Max shook his head, "Nah, I think that's enough. You guys seem like you have some catching up to do. Besides, we left Emma all alone on the beach."

I noticed how he failed to acknowledge the existence of Landon. Isabelle's eyes widened in surprise and she looked at me, "Emma?"

I nodded, "Yes, isn't it a surprise that my sister is in Slateport?"

"Yes, quite the surprise." Isabelle replied.

Guilford looked to me, "I assume that you know the reason for her visit to Slateport?"

I nodded, "I have a pretty good idea. We can discuss it at the Pokémon Center."

Isabelle and Guilford nodded, "Let's go."

**A/N: Alright. I'm feeling a little nervous about the torture part. Let me know if I did okay. It will get worse from here on, so be prepared.**


	4. Chapter 4

**A/N: Here is chapter 4. I hope you guys are enjoying it. Thanks to Whiskey Bandit and Digidestined Ninja of Sunshine for reviewing chapter 3.**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Pokémon. However, I do own Ella, Emma, Landon, and Isabelle.**

This is War

Chapter 4

**[Emma's POV]**

"So, she actually believed that you are a part of their organization?" Landon asked me.

I raised my eyebrows at him, "Why should I tell you?"

"Because, we both have the same goals." Landon replied.

"Oh? I wasn't aware that you wish for the Kanto region to win the war." I said.

He sighed, "I'm saying that we both want the missing kids to come home."

I looked away, "That doesn't mean that we should work together. Our ultimate goals are completely different."

"True. Your goal focuses on your region. My ultimate goal is to make you fall for me." He said, probably with a grin.

I put my hands on my hips and glared at him, "Why? It could never work. People from different regions can never be together. I'm from Kanto and you're from Sinnoh. Plus, you work for the Sinnoh Pokémon League. How could I ever trust you?"

He raised his eyebrows at me, "Aren't your parents from two different regions?"

I took a step back, "How did you know that?"

"I figured it out on my own. I battled your sister, remember? She had a Metagross. Metagross are from the Hoenn region. Thus, it is highly unlikely that she's from the Kanto region. Especially since she said that she's raised it since it was a Beldum." He said with a smirk.

I frowned; he thought he was pretty smart, didn't he? Well, the joke was on him. Ella wasn't from the Hoenn region. She wasn't from the Kanto region either, but that wasn't the point. "Do you realize how easy it is to get Hoenn Pokémon when you're in the Hoenn region? Besides, she raises Pokémon just as well as me. It wouldn't take her that long to get a Beldum to a Metagross." Lies, all lies. I had no clue whether Ella was a good trainer. I hadn't seen her since we had received our first Pokémon. I had received an Eevee and she had received a Chikorita.

"Ah, so she's not from the Hoenn region? So, what region is she from? I've never seen her in the Sinnoh region, and I assume she's not from Kanto, since you already revealed that your parents are from different regions. Then, she has to either be from the Orange Islands or the Johto region." Landon frowned as he tried to figure it out.

"Whatever. I don't have to tell you anything. I'm leaving." I turned towards the city, only to find Max staring at us.

"You guys aren't from the Hoenn region?" Max asked, disbelief on his face.

"Damn." Landon cursed under his breath. "Listen, I suggest that you forget what you've heard."

I glared at Landon, "Landon, shut up. I'm sure that Max will understand, if we explain the situation to him."

Landon looked at me with disbelief, "You've got to be kidding."

I shook my head, "Not at all. Max deserves to know. After all, it involves him."

Max looked very interested now, "What do you mean?"

I looked at him with compassion, "Well, it's true that I've been lying to you, but it's for your own protection." I looked around at all the people with us, "Can we go somewhere else? I don't want anyone listening in."

Max nodded, "I know a place that's usually deserted." He began walking down the beach and I followed, signaling for Landon to follow me.

Landon was extremely angry, "What are you doing?" He hissed.

I got extremely close to him, my lips on his ear, "Just play along. We need Max's cooperation."

Landon was shuddering, the contact of my lips obviously too much for him. I giggled at his struggles as I jogged to catch up with Max.

Max led us to the end of the beach. There was a rock wall in the way. Max turned to us, "The beach extends past this wall. We will either have to swim or climb the wall to get to it."

I grabbed my Vaporeon's Pokéball, ready to use her to swim across, but Landon grabbed my wrist, "I know a faster way. Go, Salamence!" Landon's dragon Pokémon appeared in front of us, awaiting the orders from its master. "Go ahead, get on."

I smirked, "Alright." I grabbed Max's wrist, "Come on." I climbed on the Salamence, pulling Max up beside me.

Landon was pouting, "Hey, you were supposed to ride with me!"

I laughed, "You're the one who offered your Salamence to us."

Max looked at me with new eyes, "You're just messing with that guy."

I grinned, "That's because he's from the Sinnoh region."

Landon sighed, "Fine, Salamence, take them to the other side and then come back for me."

Salamence nodded before lifting into the air. We went over the wall and landed on the other side. The beach on this side was much nicer. There was very little trash, compared to the filthy beach on the other side. Max jumped off Salamence, easily landing in the soft sand.

I suddenly had an idea, "Max, will you help me down?"

He turned to face me, "Sure."

I jumped down, purposefully making it into more of a tackle than trying to land on the ground. Now, we were on the ground, Max was under me, just where I wanted him. Salamence took off, its job done here.

"Um, could you get off me? You're kind of heavy." Max said, looking up at me with discomfort.

I stared down at him, "You know, I really like you. Don't you like me?" I shifted my body, letting my boobs rub against him.

He blushed, "Um, sure, you're a great friend."

I leaned closer to whisper in his ear, but a yell interrupted me, "What the hell? What are you doing?" I looked up to see Landon getting off of Salamence, the anger clear on his face.

I sat up, pouting as I did, "Well, it's no fun if someone is watching. Right, Maxie?"

Max stood up abruptly, shoving me to the ground, "I'm sorry, but I already have someone that I like. And don't call me Maxie."

I frowned, "Who?"

Max blushed, "Ella."

"You only met her yesterday. Plus, she's been hiding things from you. She's only here to make sure you don't know anything about where May is." I said.

He blinked, "What?"

I straightened my dress, "She's not who you think. She's working for the secret organization that captured May. Right now, Ella is going around, making sure that nobody is close to where the hideout is. Didn't you notice her attitude after you had that nightmare? She's obviously worried that your psychic abilities will lead you to their hideout."

Landon looked at Max in surprise, "Psychic abilities?"

Max ignored Landon, "And what about you guys? Why are you here?"

"Well, I guess I will properly introduce myself. I'm Emma Whiting from the Kanto region." I said, looking to Landon.

Landon frowned, "I'm Landon Reese from the Sinnoh region."

"And we're here to look for certain people who have gone missing from our regions. According to you, Ash and Misty went with your sister. I'm here looking for them." I said.

"Do you know a girl named Dawn? She's a coordinator from the Sinnoh region. There's also a boy named Paul. He's a very powerful Pokémon trainer. I'm here looking for them." Landon said, catching on to my strategy.

Max nodded, "I know them; they all went off together, though I didn't know that Paul went with them. So, what's your purpose?"

"We want to rescue them, of course. I live in Pallet Town, and everyone has seen how devastated Delia has been ever since Ash disappeared." I said, telling the truth for the first time in this conversation.

Max looked down, "Just like my mom."

I nodded, "Exactly. That's why we need your help. I hate to ask this of you, since I love you, but you're our only hope. We've seen cases like this before. Ella will ask you to help her find May, acting like she has good intentions, but really she will just see how close to the base you can get. Then, once you reach the base, she'll lock you up. It's all like a big game to her. She'll laugh as they're torturing you, accepting congratulations from her fellow bad guys. That's why we need you to accept her offer. We want you to go along with them so that we can follow from behind. It will be dangerous, but I think that you can do it."

Max nodded, "Alright. I'll do it."

I grinned at Landon, "Excellent."

**[Ella's POV]**

"Why are you here?" Isabelle asked me.

"No particular reason. I'm just a Taillow, flying where the wind takes me. What about you?" I asked.

"I'm nothing but a Mudkip, swimming fast and free through the world." Isabelle gave the usual response.

"Was that really necessary?" Guilford asked.

"Yes. After all, we can't trust my sister. I think you two should get used to asking me that, whenever I come." I said.

"Caution is necessary when dealing with twins." Isabelle reminded Guilford.

Guilford shrugged, "I can think of much better things to do with twins, and none of it involves caution."

Isabelle and I glared at him, but Isabelle was the one to speak, "Was that comment really necessary?"

Guilford grinned, "You know that you love me."

"That doesn't mean that I should have to put up with those kinds of comments about other girls." Isabelle replied.

"You know I haven't been with another girl since we started dating." Guilford said.

"Yeah, but you love to remind me that you could." Isabelle replied.

"Guys, can you solve this later? We don't really have much time before Max gets back with Emma and possibly Landon." I said.

"Right. So, what is Emma doing here?" Isabelle asked.

"Well, she's definitely not one of us. I asked her what she was doing here and she just said that her reason was the same as mine. So, of course, I fed her false information. I told her that I was here with the UPL and she quickly exclaimed that she was too." I said.

"The UPL?" Guilford asked.

I grinned, "The United Professor's League. She totally ate it up. Anyway, she believes that we take orders directly from the professors."

"Wow. Doesn't she know that the professors are constantly watched, since they are the smartest people around?" Isabelle asked.

I shrugged, "Obviously she thinks that the professors are smart enough to get a way around it. Which they did, but she doesn't know how. Anyway, I think that she's from the Kanto Pokémon League. I don't think that she'd be on the bad side, so I hope that she's with the Kanto Pokémon League."

"So, since we've got that figured out, what do you think we should do?" Guilford asked.

"I think that we should tell Max the truth and ask him to help us. Since our new mission is to find Ash, Misty, May, Drew, Dawn, and Paul, it would be best to ask him. Since he's psychic, he might be able to help us find their base." I said.

"He's psychic?" Isabelle asked.

I nodded, "Kind of like Sabrina. He's been seeing May being tortured in his dreams. I believe that they are visions. If Max is willing, I want him to come with us."

"That's a good idea. I was thinking that we should start telling the families anyway, but I don't want anyone to be kidnapped by the bad guys." Guilford said.

Isabelle sighed, "We really have to stop calling them 'the bad guys'. Can't you think of anything else to call them?"

"Well, since we have no idea who is behind this, we'll have to stick with 'the bad guys' for now." Guilford replied.

"Maybe Max can help us with that. If they're anything like Team Rocket, then they will have a uniform. If Max could tell us what uniform the guy who tortures his sister wears, we will be one step closer to finding them." I said excitedly.

"Alright, now that we have our plan, we should tell Max." Guilford said.

"Speaking of, isn't it taking a long time for him to get back?" Isabelle asked.

My eyes widened, "Damn! We sent him to look for the one person who we have reason to mistrust. Who knows what she's doing to him? Or what lies she's telling him about us."

"Let's go find them." Isabelle said.

"Right." Guilford replied.

"I'm going to the deserted part of the beach. Guilford, you take the other part of the beach. Isabelle, you look through the city." I said as I rushed toward the front door of the Pokémon Center.

"Wait, how will we know what to look for?" Guilford asked.

"We're twins!" I said, rolling my eyes at him before leaving.

Once I was outside, I grabbed a Pokéball out of my bag, which I had retrieved from my room. "Go, Dragonite!"

My flying dragon Pokémon looked at me with her cool grey eyes, waiting for my command. I climbed on her back, "We're going to the beach. I need you to fly me there."

Dragonite took off, carrying me toward the beach. I hope I'm not too late!

**A/N: Well, are you confused? Good! That was my intention haha. Well, feel free to review.**


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